[Cover photo credit to Charlie Weinmann]

White Denim will be releasing new album titled 13 on April 24, 2026 via Bella Union. The band feel that “community and connection” are a big part of the album and the album presents “commentary on power, generational cycles of abuse, shame, violence, and survival while urgently committing to the importance of family and creative freedom.”

Band leader James Petralli says that it is all drawn from life:

I’ve always wanted to make work that’s a reflection of my life experience.

The Funk-Blues lead single and album opener, “(God Created) Lock And Key”, is out now.

Petralli explains:

This is a Beefheart / Sun Ra sort of thing. I hope that it’s a somewhat terrifying, startling, and visceral piece for everyone that hears it.

It is an articulation of the rage that I feel and hopefully can at least partially conceal successfully most of the time.  The things that we all understand and know and see and push down to get through the day. ‘(God Created) Lock and Key’ is another way for me to simply say “Fuck it”. 

The song arrives alongside an official video created by cinematographer O’Connor Hartnett.

Petralli shares:

I have spent the better part of the last five years working in a home studio on my own. The music has become the mirror. There are aspects there that I like to look at and then there are other aspects. Lock and Key for me is an exploration of some of those other aspects. My neighbor O’Connor Hartnett lives 20 feet from my studio and happens to be a talented director of photography. He is, due mostly to proximity, intimately familiar with my process as well as the daily life of my family. This work is a result of his vision and creativity and our connection as neighbors living in a community that is rebuilding after a very difficult year.

Tour Dates – TICKETS

5/28: Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive

5/29: Wells, NV @ Schellraiser Presents: Humboldt Hideaway

5/31: Boulder, CO @ The Velvet Elk

6/2: First Collins, CO @ Washington’s

6/3: Denver, CO @ Marquis

6/5: Dallas, TX @ AM/FM

6/6: Austin, TX @ Mohawk (Outside)